TRUTH IN
MENUS
Managing Hospitality Risk
What’s at risk?
As a hospitality manager, you have a right to advertise
your food and beverage products in a way that casts
them in their best light. To misrepresent your products
is a violation of what has come to be known as Truth in
Menu laws. These laws are designed to protect consumers
from fraudulent food and beverage claims. Inaccurate
or incomplete menus can lead to injuries and illness
affecting guests who have allergies to certain ingredients.
It can also be cause for legal action by patrons who feel
you have misrepresented your products or by governing
agencies for failure to comply with their requirements.
What are your legal obligations?
The various Truth in Menu laws are overseen by dozens
of agencies and administrative entities, taking the
labeling of food to much greater degrees of accuracy.
These laws are constantly being revised. It is possible,
however, for a foodservice operator to stay up to date and
in compliance with Truth in Menu laws. The method is
relatively straightforward, and the key is honesty in menu
claims, both in regard to the price that is charged and
the food that is served.
Menus should accurately reflect the price to be
charged to the customer. If one dozen oysters are to
be sold for a given price, one dozen oysters should be
delivered on the plate and the price charged on the
bill should match that on the menu. Likewise, if the
menu price is to include a mandatory service charge
or cover charge, these must be brought to the atten-
tion of the guest.
Accuracy in menus involve a great deal more than
honestly and precisely stating a price. It also entails
being careful when describing many food attributes,
including the preparation style, ingredients, origin, por-
tion sizes, and health benefits. Because this area is so
complex and because consumers increasingly demand
more accurate information from restaurants, the National
Restaurant Association (NRA) and many state associations
have produced educational material designed to assist
foodservice operators as they write and prepare menus.
“A Practical Guide to the Nutrition Labeling Laws” is a
publication written specifically for the restaurant industry
and outlines everything you need to know about nutrition
claims you can make for your menu items. You can secure
a copy for a modest charge from the NRA. In addition,
the Federal government issues food description standards
that can be of great assistance.
How can you better protect your
organization?
For some suggestions designed to assist you in developing
sound policies and procedures for your organization, please
turn this document over and review the attached checklist.
For more information about this and other
hospitality risk management topics, please contact:
National Specialty
Underwriters, Inc.
10900 NE 4th St.
Suite 1100
Bellevue, WA 98004
(425) 450-1090
www.nsui.com HOSPITALITY
Checklist: Managing Truth In Menu Issues

Preparation style: Under federal law certain if you list something as “light” or “lite” it must have
food items and preparation techniques must be fewer calories; to be considered “heart healthy,” a
carried out in a very precise way, if that item or menu item must meet very specific criteria.
technique is to be included on a menu. The list is
long, but as examples, items designated as GRILLED Provide source material: When printing health
must be grilled, and not just mechanically produced benefit claims on a menu, further information about
with “grill marks” then steamed before service; if you the claim should be available somewhere on the
call it HOMEMADE, the product must be prepared on menu, or be provided on request. The FDA permits
premise, not commercially baked; if you describe it as restaurants to back up their menu claims with a
FRESH, the product cannot be frozen, canned, dried, “reasonable” base, such as cookbooks, databases,
or processed… and so forth. or other secondhand sources that provide nutrition
information.
Ingredients: Restaurants are not currently
required to divulge their ingredient lists (recipes) to If needed, provide a menu caution statement: If your
their guests, but there are specific situations when menu contains items that routinely cause people
the ingredients listed on a menu must precisely match problems (i.e., small bones in fish, sulfates in wine,
those used to make the item. For example, if the menu MSG) then it may be wise to state in writing on your
says maple syrup, then colored table syrup or maple- menu that these elements are present, and that the
flavored syrup should not be served. If substitutions guest should alert the server to any food allergies
to the menu must be made, the guest should be prior to ordering.
informed of those substitutions before ordering.
Check with local experts for assistance: The
Origin: For many menu items, the origin of the enforcement of “Truth in Menu” regulations
product or its ingredients is very important. Many is undertaken by state and local public health
consumers prefer Colorado Lamb, Washington apples, departments which have direct jurisdiction over
and Bluepoint (Long Island) oysters to other varieties. restaurants by monitoring their food safety and
It is deceptive and illegal to use these types of terms sanitation practices. In today’s litigious society, a
to describe similar menu items from other places. restaurant manager should have any menu containing
nutritional or health claims reviewed by both an
Size: Double check the weights of items served to attorney and a dietician.
make sure you are not misrepresenting portions. For
example, “Large” East Coast oysters must, by law, Train your servers on how to discuss the menu
contain no more than 160-210 oysters per gallon, with customers: In addition to carefully developing
while “Large” Pacific Coast oysters, by law, may menus, Truth in Menu laws require that restaurants
contain not more than 64 oysters per gallon. truthfully and accurately specify what their servers
say about menu items and how their food products
Health benefits: The federal government issues are promoted or shown in advertisements.
very strict guidelines on what you can and cannot
say about nutritional claims. The Food and Drug If meat, fish, poultry, shellfish or eggs are served
Administration (FDA) has issued regulations to insure raw, undercooked, or cooked to order, a disclosure
that foodservice operators who make health benefit identifying the foods, plus a reminder in 11 pt type,
claims on their menus can indeed back them up. The must appear on the menu or in a written disclosure
list is too lengthy to publish in full, but as examples, if declaring that eating the specified types of animal
you claim an item has low sodium, fat, or cholesterol, products as raw or undercooked “may increase your
the item must contain low amounts of these nutrients; risk of foodborne illness”.

The information contained in this publication was obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Any opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of NSU. NSU makes no representation
or guarantee as to the correctness or sufficiency of any information contained herein, nor a guarantee of results based upon the use of this information, and disclaims all warranties whether
implied, express or statutory, including without limitation, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for use and fitness for a particular purpose. You assume the entire risk as to the use of this
information, and NSU assumes no liability in connection with either the information presented or use of the suggestions made in this publication. No part of this document or any of our other risk
control documents is a representation that coverage does or does not exist for any particular claim or type of claim under any such policy. Whether coverage exists or does not exist for any particular
claim under any such policy depends on the facts and circumstances involved in the claim and all applicable policy wording.